‘The lone survivor asked me if I rescued his brother wearing white T-shirt'
Shekhavat and Viswashkumar received initial treatment in Civil Hospital's C-7 ward. Shekhavat recounts, "After I regained consciousness, people came to know that I was one of those who rescued victims. Viswashkumar, who was a couple of beds away from me, asked me, 'Did you save any victim from the plane in a white T-shirt?' I told him that I did not, but someone else might have. I later realised that Viswashkumar's brother was also on the same flight and was probably wearing white T-shirt," he said.
Shekhavat, who is a cloth merchant, was discharged after two days of treatment and recalls the accident. "I was at my residence, which is in the vicinity of the crash site. I heard major blasts, and I thought it might be some explosion. I left my home with the intention to see what the incident was. I took a lift, and when I reached the crash site, the fire was intense. At least five to seven people were active in rescuing and saving people.
"
"I thought if they can risk their lives and save people, why not me? This motivated me to join the brigade, and immediately, I rushed towards the mess from where there were calls for rescue," he said.
"As I went upstairs, the fire brigade and other volunteers were using a jet spray to douse the kitchen fire. The operation to douse the fire was from the ground, and realising that the jet force could collapse the damaged wall, we asked them to give us the hose pipe.
However, when we failed to catch it, they used the ladder to give us the pipe, and then a couple of fire officials also joined in," said Shekhavat.
Shekhavat said that he and a few others entered the kitchen and saw cylinders. "If there was a cylinder blast, it would further lead to an explosion damaging the building, and hence, I lifted one cylinder and threw it at a safe distance, and another volunteer threw the second cylinder."
"While we were rescuing people, I noticed the leg of a woman who was buried under the debris. She was immediately removed from the debris. We saved at least five to six doctors. But suddenly, some chemical fell on me, creating a burning sensation in my eyes," said Shekhavat.
He washed his eyes and joined again, but by then the smoke had intensified, and he began feeling uneasiness. "I then sat under the staircase, and when I came to consciousness, I was in the C-7 ward of Civil Hospital with several doctors who were trapped in the mess and the sole survivor of the AI171 crash," recounts Shekhavat.
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Time of India
4 hours ago
- Time of India
Viral Video: New footage of UPS 747-8F engine pod strike during landing at Taiwan International Airport surface
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Indian Express
21 hours ago
- Indian Express
Pilots were blamed until computer issue was found: US aviation attorney on his previous cases
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So what caused the RAT to deploy? We've heard the narrative that focusses on pilot error here on the switches. It's important to remember how a switch works. So the computer in this plane is looking at the current that is flowing. There's no camera on the switch. There's nothing that is looking at and saying, 'Oh, the switch moved. There's also not something that's called a proximity sensor. There's not one of those on one of these switches either. So it doesn't know if the bottom part is moved or the top part of it. It doesn't know either. So the question becomes, was the switch actually moved, or did the current change? Because the computer is going to register that one way or the other. Now, is the computer smart enough to know that the switch has not moved, that it's just a current change? That is why you can't take it out of context. 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And they lost another family. It was a very profound experience… Instance of findings in an air crash case changing after the law firm's intervention I can give you some vague information, because in cases that are resolved, there's confidentiality involved in those. There was a crash, a body was in the water for a period of time. It was brought up several days after the crash and the postmortem was done based on only the information that was had at the time. The facts of the crash were only known towards the end because the medical examiner is not really concerned with aircraft aviation. Sometimes, they don't even know what happened. They just want to know what happened to the body. So the family got us involved, and this was a smaller aircraft. We took possession of the salvage of the wreckage, and hired our experts to examine what happened, and how it happened. And we learned that this aircraft had a malfunction in the oxygen system on board. 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And because of that, the family then knew that it wasn't a pilot error. They knew that it was an equipment problem. Visit to the crash site in July and after exactly two months The first time we were there, there was still a big police presence. It was cordoned off at the main intersection. And we were escorted by the police to the bottom end of the accident site. Later I learned, when I went back and looked at my photographs, we were standing at the exact spot where the survivor walked out. From that perspective, we could see the burned buildings, the burned trees.. There was rubble. It was still, it was really quiet in that area. That stillness and the fact that there were no people there in itself speaks of something awful that happened, in an area where typically, you would see a lot of people. So that's one of the first takeaways. Last night, the street was open. Now the area has been largely cleaned up, at least in the roadway. They're still dealing with all the debris. The area has come back to life. There's traffic going around the curve right there. But there's still a lot of cleanup and a lot of rebuilding, a lot of work to do there. Very, very different feeling… being there with a large group of families. Some of them were telling me at the time, 'This is our first time coming to the scene and there were a lot of emotions in that group, you know, one of them was telling me, 'This is the first time I am seeing the place where my husband was killed'. And I mean, that's powerful to hear somebody say that. I don't think that's a thing like healing or closure. You've got a new normal that you're dealing with, your timeline has changed. You're not ever going to get back to that person again. And you shouldn't be, because it matters. The loss…the people… the life matters. . You're not moving on. You're moving through. Grief is not linear. It is not the same every day. 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The Print
2 days ago
- The Print
Ahmedabad plane crash: US attorney, kin of victims join candlelight vigil
'Andrews and 20 to 25 family members of the air crash victims, including passengers and those killed on the ground, participated in the candlelight vigil in memory of the victims,' said Israni. United States-based aviation attorney Mike Andrews, who is in Gujarat to meet the kin of the deceased, also participated, said his media coordinator, Kuldip Israni. Ahmedabad, Aug 12 (PTI) Family members of Air India plane crash victims on Tuesday participated in a candlelight vigil at the site of the tragedy in Meghaninagar area of Ahmedabad to mark two months since the deadly aviation disaster. Andrews, on August 8, announced that at least 65 families from India and the United Kingdom, who lost their kin in the horrific tragedy on June 12, have hired US-based law firm Beasley Allen, with which he is associated as an aviation attorney. Andrews had told reporters in Vadodara that the families have an option of filing a product liability claim in a US court, depending on the findings of the ongoing investigation. On June 12, Air India's Boeing 787-8 aircraft en route to London Gatwick crashed into a medical hostel complex shortly after taking off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport and burst into flames, killing 241 out of 242 people onboard and 19 individuals on the ground, including four medical students. During the last week, Andrews met family members of several victims in Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Surat and neighbouring Diu. PTI PJT PD NSK This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
